NBL owners' meeting can look to future, not just survival

For the first time it feels like the National Basketball League of Canada is going into its off-season meetings with more hope than in previous years.

That’s not to say there aren’t problems; there are plenty of those. But the league is talking more about the potential for future rather than about simply surviving another year.

The NBL owners will begin their postseason meeting Sunday. There will be no lack of things to discuss, but with the Sudbury Five joining the league this year and with the success of the St. John’s Edge last year, the league has been able to take a breath from the question of who is going to survive and who is not.

The league expects a firm commitment from teams during these meetings.

“We expect all the teams to be back,” said NBL president Vito Frijia.

That might come as a surprise to many, considering some teams have really struggled to attract fans, but Frijia says all the teams have good ownership that intend to keep fighting to keep their franchises operating.

The one team that is a question mark is the Niagara River Lions. While it’s been bandied about that the River Lions will not return because owner Richard Petko is invested in the new Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the meetings may influence whether the River Lions stay or go. The CEBL is scheduled to begin play in late spring 2019.

No matter. Frijia has said in the past the NBL will not abandon the St. Catharines/Niagara region. The River Lions have established a solid market in the area and become one of the top franchises in the NBL.

The other franchise that always faces the question of survival is the Windsor Express.

“We’ll be back,” said co-owner Dartis Willis. Willis owns the franchise along with three partners. “We just don’t know what coming back will look like.”

The Express is done its three-year deal with the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

“Negotiations are set for this summer,” Willis said. “I’m hoping to establish a better position from other years. What that looks like I don’t have an idea, but we want to be right where we are. The league is more stable than it’s been in past and we just want to be in a stable position so we can contribute like we’ve been doing for the last six years.”

Willis says breaking through is “hard as hell.”

“We just have to keep working at it and we intend to do that,” he said. “There’s no other way to say it, but it’s tough. If you don’t make the gap, the partners have to cover it and we’ve been covering it for six years. It’s the toughest market unequivocally. If you look across the river, the (Detroit) Pistons, Tigers and Lions; the Spitfires across the river are down.

“When I go to contract I don’t want those guys (across the table) to give us anything. The message I like to send is that we are willing to work for everything we get. We don’t want the city to give us anything; we just want things to be equitable across the board.”

Other key areas of concern include whether to increase the salary cap, roster sizes, scheduling, officiating, whether to increase the number of protected players from six, and the oft-discussed position of league commissioner. Right now Audley Stephenson is the league’s deputy commissioner.

There are also more hints at expansion and not just in Ontario and the Maritimes. There may be Western Canada teams interesting in joining. Whether it’s fact or fantasy remains to be seen, but it’s a rumour that’s been rumbling for a while.

The league will also talk about rule changes. One can only hope that will include making the league look a little more professional.

Start at the score table. Make all the officials who work at a scoring table wear a standardized shirt that identifies them as officials. Limit the number of people who can approach the table on behalf of the team. Most teams have more assistant coaches than they need, so make sure only the assistant coach or coach approaches the scorer’s table.

The bench area should be limited to players, coaching and training staff. Enforce the so-called coaching box, which is never enforced.

These are little things that will make the league look better and won’t cost a lot of money.

If you start small enough, maybe the league will realize if you instill some form of discipline, it might spread to bigger things, as in confrontations between players and fans and officials. It might benefit the league if they put in rules that ding anyone who gets involved in such shenanigans.

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